1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for the application of a surgical patch. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for the deployment and securement of a surgical patch to a tissue site of a hernia.
2. Description of Related Art
A hernia is a protrusion of a tissue, structure, or part of an organ through injured muscle tissue or an injured membrane by which the tissue, structure, or organ is normally contained. Some examples of hernias include: abdominal hernias, diaphragmatic hernias and hiatal hernias (for example, para-esophageal hernia of the stomach), pelvic hernias, for example, obturator hernia, anal hernias, hernias of the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs, intracranial hernias, and Spigelian hernias.
Hernias may be surgically repaired, and are principally repaired by pushing back, or “reducing”, the herniated tissue, and then reinforcing the defect in injured muscle tissue (an operation called herniorrhaphy). Modern muscle reinforcement techniques involve placement of a surgical patch, such as a surgical mesh, near the injured tissue or defect to support the defect. The surgical patch is either placed over the defect (anterior repair) or under the defect (posterior repair).
A variety of different fixation devices are used to anchor the surgical patch to the tissue. For example, a needled suture may be passed through or around the tissue near the defect to hold the surgical patch in a position which spans the injured tissue. In other examples, staples, tacks, clips and pins are also known to be passed through or around the tissue near the defect to anchor the surgical patch in a position which spans the injured tissue. Although such methods have been proven effective in anchoring the surgical patch to the tissue, these surgical patches have a tendency to crumble and kink when being positioned or anchored relative to the tissue. Indeed, these surgical patches are most effective when they maintain a snug and flat fit against the tissue. Thus, the crumbling and kinking of the surgical patches may limit the effectiveness of the surgical patches. In this respect, a continuing need still exits to provide a means for facilitating the effectiveness of surgical patches used to surgically repair hernias.